Getting into a business PhD program [Done!]. And surviving [Done!]. And getting out [Done!!!].

Monday, June 19, 2006

task lists

In Progress-

Completed1. Clear GMAT- Total 750, 99th (Q:90th, V:94th)

2. Contact potential advisers - Oct 2006[14 August] Decided to skip this. Will just go ahead to apply to all the schools.

3. Shortlist School - July 2006[19 June 06] Confirmed 4 schools. Think I will need to identify 2 or 3 more.[30 June 06] Confirmed 5 schools. Considering 2 more schools. One requires me take the GRE, which I am not too willing at this point.[31 July 06] Confirmed 6 schools that I will be applying. Still thinking of whether to apply to the one that requires GRE.[11 Sept 06] Confirmed 9 schools that I will be applying - requested LOR for all these schools.

4. Clear TOEFL - Aug 2006[19 June 06] Yes, despite having 15 years of education in Singapore, I still need to give a TOEFL score for most schools. Only 1 school gives me the waiver thus far.[30 June 06] Registered. Test date is set on 18 Aug.[11 Sept 06] Received my score: Total 114 (R=29, L=30, S=26, W=29)

5. Get transcripts - Sept 2006[13 Sept 06] Collected

6. Get recommenders - Sept 2006[19 June 06] 3 recommenders confirmed (2 academic + 1 work). Need to get 1 or 2 more academic references. To touch base with recommenders once the local U's term starts.[30 June 06] 1 of the recommender turned shaky. Not sure if I can get a strong recommendation from him, which is crucial. To come up with a Plan B.[31 July 06] Sent one LOR package to a key recommender. Will send the packages to 2 others by next week. Meeting up with a potential recommender tomorrow.[10 Aug 06] Received the first completed set of LORs. 1 other set of LOR sent. 2 other sets to be sent.[5 Sep 06] Received the 2nd completed set of LORs. 2 other sets are already out in the recommeders' hands.[28 Sep 06] 3rd completed set of LORs in. Dropping my 4th recommender (non-academic).

8. Complete research paper - ASAP[19 June 06] Just starting on this.[30 June 06] Still working on this. Not much progress.[16 July 06] Wrote out draft 1. "The draft is a good start". Thought that was a nice comment.[31 July 06] Completed about 4 drafts of the paper. Now pending submission to a journal. Hope it get into the review stage. Will be good for my CV.[4 Aug 06] Submitted for publication consideration.[9 Aug 06] Paper not considered for publication for the time being. Need to work on it for another journal.[2 Sept 06] Amended the paper for another journal. Left with some finishing touches.[17 Sept 06] Need to expand the working paper.[19 Dec 06] Completed for 2nd publication attempt.[22 Dec 06] Submitted again for publication consideration.